WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- President Obama declared Monday that his stimulus plan is `` starting to work '' and that 2,000 transportation projects -- costing much less than expected -- are under way .

President Obama on Monday says the transportation projects will help create or save jobs .

`` Competition for these projects is so fierce , and contractors are doing such a good job cutting costs , the projects are consistently coming in under budget , '' Obama said Monday .

The president gave a rapid-fire list of savings : a bid for road work in Connecticut is $ 8.4 million less than the state budgeted ; Louisiana has a project coming in $ 4.7 million less than expected ; projects in Colorado are averaging about 30 percent under the state forecast ; and some bids in California are nearly half of what the state projected .

The administration said those savings will stretch the agency 's $ 48 billion stimulus budget .

`` Our recovery dollars can go further , and we can do more projects , '' said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said . `` This is great news . ''

LaHood hosted the president and vice president at his department 's headquarters in Washington for the announcement . Officials did not give an overall estimate of money saved from competitive bids .

The three leaders also claimed a victory in the amount of transportation work approved so far , saying the agency has approved its 2,000 th infrastructure project as part of the stimulus .

`` Some may have thought it would have taken months to get to this point , '' Obama said , `` but we have approved these projects in just 41 days . '' Watch as Obama says projects are coming in ahead of schedule ''

The stimulus bill was signed February 17 , but transportation dollars did not begin flowing until later .

The president said the 2,000 th transportation project to receive stimulus funds is one to widen and add an overpass to a stretch of Interstate 94 near Portage , Michigan . Vice President Joseph Biden plans to attend the groundbreaking in June .

Obama said the highway projects from the stimulus bill will create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of next year .

He pointed to the aggressive contractor interest in transportation projects , along with tax cuts going to millions of families from the stimulus plan , and implied it marks a turning point in the economic recovery effort .

`` Today , I think it 's safe to say that this plan is beginning to work , '' the president said .

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NEW : President Obama : `` Projects are consistently coming in under budget ''

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Stimulus dollars have funded 2,000 transportation projects , officials say

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Administration says savings will stretch $ 48 billion stimulus budget for infrastructure

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Officials did n't give overall estimate of money saved from competitive bids